I was working the afternoon shift, and another guy named Dave was working the morning. I arrived at work at about 1:30 in the afternoon, with a big box of used stock in my hands. Upon entering, I saw that Dave was already dealing with a big box of CDs. A customer was wandering around the store, as Dave picked through his big box of discs.
I saddled up to help Dave go through the discs. The customer, a male in his early 30’s, was just looking around while he waited. He liked to talk a lot, and would periodically pipe in with a comment. “This here is a great CD, eh?” There were other customers in the store as well, including a well-dressed woman. The dude took a gander at the woman, who was wearing high heels.
When the woman was out of earshot, he said (to no one in particular):
“Woah. That’s a nice pair of feet.”
And that was something I never heard in public before. The end.
Now that Pyromania, Hysteria, Slang and Adrenalize have been remastered and reissued with bonus tracks, it is High ‘N’ Dry that needs to be given the deluxe treatment next. The fact that Adrenalize has been given an elaborate deluxe edition, but High ‘n’ Dry hasn’t even been remastered yet, is injustice. Any time I listen to High ‘n’ Dry, I leave with one conclusion: This is Def Leppard’s best album. And not only that, it’s just one of the best by any hard rock band, period.
For High ‘n’ Dry, my g-to version is my vinyl US pressing. The CD is still in my collection, because it includes two songs not on the original LP: 1984 Remixes of “Bringin’ On The Heartbreak” and “Me and My Wine” (the versions that were used for the music videos). So that’s cool, good enough reason to own the CD, but the LP has one more gimmick that you can’t get on CD. The final track on side two, “No No No”, ends in an infinite loop of Joe screaming “NO!” I love vinyl gimmicks. I also love that the vinyl has inner sleeve photos that you don’t get on CD (even if one appears to be Rick Allen’s genitals covered in whipped cream).
This is one solid LP. Def Leppard teamed up with Mutt Lange for the first time and his influence is palpable. Def Leppard had been heavy before, but now they were channeling a serious AC/DC vibe. Mutt had just produced a little album called Back In Black. Surely it was no coincidence that High ‘n’ Dry has similar riffy and sonic qualities? Def Leppard’s edge had yet to be blunted in their search for hits. Instead, it had been sharpened. On Through the Night could have been better, more tightly focused. High ‘n’ Dry is as focused as a laser beam. Aside from one guitar-driven power ballad (“Bringin’ On the Heartbreak”) every song seeks only to scorch.
Although there is not one single throw-away or filler track on High ‘n’ Dry, everybody has their favourites, Mine: The melancholy vibe of “Lady Strange” and “Mirror, Mirror (Look Into My Eyes)”. The pedal-to-the-metal hard rock of “High ‘N’ Dry (Saturday Night)”, “Another Hit And Run”, and the instrumental “Switch 625”. And my personal favourite song, “You Got Me Runnin'”. I don’t know why that is so, but that’s the one right there that puts fuel in my tank.
Unlike the band that Def Leppard has become today, this album was all about the hot riffs and the Joe Elliott screams! Hard to believe it’s the same band. But, of course, today they have two different guitar players, so the meat of this band is also not the same. Having said that, the band acquitted themselves nicely on the recent live album Viva! Hysteria.
Every Leppard fan should own High ‘n’ Dry. Everybody who’s ever liked a Def Leppard song needs to check out High ‘n’ Dry. Actually, anyone who breathes should check this album out at least once. It’s on my desert island list for sure.
We had just started repairing scratched CDs via a GTA-based third party contractor. They were able to remove a miniscule layer of plastic from the playing surface, rendering a smooth surface that would not deflect your CD player’s laser. The result was a playable, sellable CD, with a clouded appearance on the CD itself. The cloudy look was usually very minor, although it was sometimes enough to turn a customer off of buying the CD.
After repairing the scratched discs, they would be put in brand new CD cases and then on the shelves to sell. But we also had to mark each disc as “repaired” somehow, so that if any were returned as defective, we would know they had been fixed. We could then get the fee for fixing the disc credited back to us, or the contractor could try to fix it again and buff it deeper. Either way, we needed to mark them, somehow.
The best way to fix a surface scratched CD
We agreed that the least problematic way was to stamp the inner (usually blank and hidden) sleeve of the CD, the part underneath the plastic tray. We stamped it with our store logo. For most discs at the time, nobody would ever notice the stamp unless they pulled the case apart. The only problems were with discs that had inner picture sleeves under clear trays. We were forced to put the stamp directly on the artwork in those cases, a process that killed me every time. I hated defacing a CD. It’s not something I would ever do to my own property.
Around this time, AC/DC just released the luxurious Bonfire box set, a monolith of rock containing many separate additional treats: A pick, a bottle opener/keychain, a sticker, and a temporary tattoo. This was high on my priority list, so I put my name in our store’s computer reservation system for the first used copy that showed up.
It was only a few weeks before a used copy did show up. One of the higher-ups decided to work in my store that day. A man came to the counter with some CDs to sell, and the Bonfire box set. It was mint, complete, everything intact. However the higher-up didn’t consider the set as “mint” as I did; she determined that one of the CDs from the Let There Be Rock set was scratched. It had a tiny nearly invisible mark on it not even the size of a hair, but not a scratch. She dutifully stamped the inner tray and put the CD in the pile to be sent out and fixed.
I was disappointed that the tray had been defaced, but there was no way I was letting that disc get sent out and fixed. It would look worse, with the cloudy finish. I preferred the un-fixed finish with that tiny hairline mark that I could barely see. I can see the scratch even less today with my aged eyesight!
I bought the set but that stamp is still there. I covered it up with a white sticker, and was grateful that the box set didn’t have clear CD trays with artwork underneath.
That stamp still bugs me. I still see it there, and it still bugs me! How do you feel about things like this? Defects in the physical musical product that you love? I know I can’t be alone.
Postscript: Years later some damn rat kid stole the stamper. On my watch!!
AC/DC – Stiff Upper Lip (Bonus CD edition, 2000 Warner)
So much music, so little time! I reviewed the AC/DC album Stiff Upper Lip months and months ago. Previously, I only owned the single disc version of Stiff Upper Lip. I knew of the 2 CD Australian version, but I didn’t own it. I thought and assumed all those bonus tracks were included on the massive AC/DC Backtracks box set. It has pretty much everything else. However I was wrong, and I promptly bought a copy of the 2 CD version from Discogs, with plans to review it shortly after I reviewed Stiff Upper Lip itself. That was in July. Like I said, so much music, so little time!
Backtracks is missing two songs from the bonus CD: “Back In Black”, live from Madrid, is exclusive to this set. So is the 11 minute “Let There Be Rock”. (Meanwhile, Backtracks had plenty more songs from the Madrid show that are not on this bonus CD. Those songs are “Dog Eat Dog”, “Hail Caesar”, and “You Shook Me All Night Long”.
Confusing, huh? That’s why I’m here. To help the fans and collectors out there.
The Stiff Upper Lip bonus CD has a mix of live tracks, videos, and one rare studio recording:
“Cyberspace” (Non LP Track)
“Back in Black (Live – Plaza De Toros, Madrid, 1996)”
“Hard as a Rock (Live – Plaza De Toros, Madrid, 1996)”
“Ballbreaker (Live – Plaza De Toros, Madrid, 1996)”
“Whole Lotta Rosie (Live – Plaza De Toros, Madrid, 1996)”
“Let There Be Rock (Live – Plaza De Toros, Madrid, 1996)”
“Stiff Upper Lip” (Music video)
“Safe in New York City” (Music video)
“Satellite Blues” (Music video)
I don’t care so much about music videos on a CD. Since the early 2000’s, bands tend to include a bonus DVD with their albums instead of videos on an enhanced CD. Plus we have Youtube now, most music videos are available online 24/7 on demand.
Skipping the videos, the most interesting track here is “Cyberspace” which was also a B-side to the “Safe in New York City” single. I hate songs about the internet (see: “Virtuality” by Rush) but thankfully “Cyberspace” kicks real ass. Sonically it’s the same as the rest of Stiff Upper Lip: hard, loud, stripped back. It’s also fast and memorable, making it one of the most interesting Stiff Upper Lip songs. Highly recommended to fans of this album.
Then you get the five live songs, originally from the 1996 concert in Madrid that was released on DVD as No Bull. I always prefer an audio format to a video one. I’ll tell you that the “new” songs from Ballbreaker were awesome live! In particular the title track, but “Hard as a Rock” is relentless and classic sounding. Meanwhile you can’t say anything bad about “Back in Black” or “Rosie”. You could argue that you didn’t need more live versions; I’d argue just to not buy this CD.
Finally “Let There Be Rock” is present in full-on extended live version. Angus wails away like a man possessed, a man in a trance, a man at one with the rock! With the rest of AC/DC behind him, you couldn’t ask for a more solid backing band, which makes the whole thing work.
As a companion piece to the whole Stiff Upper Lip album, I give the bonus CD:
I decided to do something special for Part 250…by not doing Part 250 at all.
This isn’t one of those bullshit prequels, like when George Lucas says, “Oh, Episode I, I had that written for decades,” when it was pretty obvious he was making it up as he went along! Nope, this isn’t like that. I started writing the Record Store Tales over 10 years ago, and what you see below is the original first chapter. It existed solely for the purpose of background and context, but I excised it in favour of starting things faster with the second chapter,“Run To The Hills”. Since that became Part 1, it makes sense that this earlier introduction should be Part 0. With hindight, I kind of wished I’d kept it in, so here it is! And don’t forget to check out my new complete Table of Contents, should you wish to read more!
Yeah…don’t ask. That’s me on the right.
A Few Words for Days Gone By…
What is childhood made of? In my mind, when you’re a kid, life consists of two things:
1. School
2. Summer Holidays
That was the cycle. To break it down to the core, to an 11 year old life was 10 months of school followed by two months of glorious, warm sunny freedom. Sure, you’d get to go home at the end of the day, but you were never truly free until the end of June. No more pencils, no more books, all that stuff. It was way better than Christmas holidays. The Canadian winters offered such fun treats as shoveling, besides snow pants, parka, boots (laced up too tight), and mittens which prevented you from using your fingers.
Our summers were boisterous. My sister Kathryn and I were like peas in a pod. We would play some kind of game every day, usually under my leadership. I would declare that today, we were going to play Star Wars. Other possible declarations included building fleets of Lego ships and cars, and having a giant war. Or inventing a new ball game. Once GI Joe came along, we’d dig trenches in the yard, as well as forts and garages of twigs and leaves, and have an entire day (or week) dedicated to Cobra Commander’s new secret weapon. Aside from an occasional rebellion from my sister, our summers were mostly uninterrupted merriment.
My sister and I both clearly remember one such rebellion, where she wanted to do things her way. It involved our Star Wars figures. We were already mid-battle. I was setting up a perfect counter-offensive. The Millenium Falcon would sneak attack Vader’s base, take out his Tie Fighter early in the melee, while Luke would take out Boba Fett. Leia and Lando had to distract Jabba The Hutt, so that he couldn’t stop Luke when he eventually confronted the Emperor. Game over! The plan was perfect. Now I just needed my sister to coordinate the battle with me, under my command of course.
Much to my disappointment, she had moved around some of the figures and now had them seated. Luke and Vader were next to each other. “Why are Luke and Vader sitting there? Luke is about to attack and Vader should be getting into his ship.”
My sister continued playing with the figures, and without looking up, replied, “Luke and Vader want to be friends now. They’re having tea.”
It didn’t matter that half the figures were hers, if she didn’t know how to play Star Wars right. So I’d yell a bit, act like a big brother usually does, and eventually she’d go along with the plan, or cry and leave. The evil Empire would be defeated once and for all, thanks to my brilliant leadership and strategy. We were definitely pals, growing up.
For years, this was the way of the summer holidays. We’d be doing something awesome at home, or at the cottage, but it would always be something cool. It didn’t matter where we were: games continued wherever we went. We’d make a game out of anything. You give us a pile of junk and we’ll make a game out of it.
All things do come to an end. The Star Wars trilogy ended in 1983 and something needed to fill the vacuum. While GI Joe and later Transformers would temporarily take its place, I was getting older. My attention was drifting. I was looking for something cool, new, and exciting. Video games didn’t hold my attention and neither did sports.
Starting in 1983, several things happened in a short time frame. Styx released a single called “Mr. Roboto” that some of my friends at school were obsessed with. Then I heard a song called “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” by AC/DC, and it was pretty cool too. Then, a newer band called Quiet Riot came out with an album called Metal Health that would go on to sell three million copies. This was my first rock cassette purchase when I was in the 6th grade. Something connected…
AC/DC. Van Halen. Ozzy Osbourne. Black Sabbath. Def Leppard. Motley Crue. Iron Maiden. Who were these people? I had a lot to find out.
Bonfire is less of an AC/DC box set, but more of a tribute to Bon Scott. LeBrain readers know that Bon was the late great second AC/DC lead singer. (They did one single, “Can I Get Close to You” / “Rocking in the Parlor” with original singer Dave Evans.) In every other meaningful way, Bon Scott is the first and best lead singer. That’s not a slight against Brian Johnson because he’s proven himself and then some. I don’t always listen to AC/DC, but when I do, I prefer Bon Scott.
Featuring four special albums spread over five CDs, Bonfire is largely live. Early versions of this box, which I am lucky enough to own, were loaded to the gills with extras. More on that later, but I highly recommend the original box set rather than the reissue that comes in a digipack book. Still, the music is what most people will buy this for, and most of it is previously unreleased.
Part 1 – Live at Atlantic Studios. This was an old live set once released as a promotional LP to radio stations. As much as possible was remastered from the original tapes, which were partially erased. The rest of the music was taken from an actual LP and spliced. Sounds as great as can be expected, and I love the sound of AC/DC playing away in a small venue. This disc is more proof that AC/DC could gel like no other. This is really an outstanding disc.
Part 2 – Let There Be Rock: The Movie. Spread out over 2 CDs, this is the complete concert. It is heavy, it is fast, and it is awesome. To hear the old band jam away on a 10 minute + version of “Rocker” is simply amazing. It’s this kind of thing we’ll never hear again. It’s a good thing they recorded it, and the audio on these discs is perfect. The concert was recorded in France mere months before Bon’s death. I would consider this set to be the definitive live AC/DC album.
Part 3 – Volts. This was the disc I was most interested in, and it’s a little strange. It’s partly rare and demo material, with a couple album hits (“Ride On” and “It’s A Long Way”) sprinkled in. Obviously AC/DC cleared out their vaults of rare stuff with the Backtracks box last year, but this is a fun taster. I’m not sure how they arrived at this track listing, considering how much material they had to pick from, and the disc’s running time is fairly short. The end of the disc has hidden stuff, interviews with Bon himself.
As for the rarities, five are early AC/DC demos, some with alternate titles and lyrics. Two are more tracks are live rarities. Among the demos, there are some songs here that I like better than the released versions — “Back Seat Confidential” is superior to “Beating Around ths Bush” to my ears.
Part 4 – Back In Black. Including this disc on Bonfire, I have bought Back In Black on CD five times. (Original CD issue, first remaster, Bonfire, second remaster, dual disc.) I’m sure if you’re reading this, you own Back In Black too. I believe this to be the same music tracks as the first Back In Black CD remaster. It comes in a little digipack, which is unique to this set, although similar to later releases. I’m not going to review Back In Black here. It’s a great album, albeit I’m bored to death with hearing most of these songs over and over today. I don’t think it’s as good as the early Bon stuff, but it was a remarkable comeback. It was included here as a tribute to Bon, as a final coda for this box set. I guess. But seriously, what AC/DC fan was buying Bonfire that didn’t already have Back in Black? This is completely redundant. I think the set would have been better off if they didn’t include it. Cheaper at least.
And, the box. The first release of Bonfire was loaded with great fun extras. There’s a long and informative book full of photos. There’s a poster. A bottle opener/keychain thingy. On used copies, this is almost always missing. Most people kept the good stuff, and sold the box set assuming the kid at the CD store wouldn’t notice. There was also a sticker, a rub-on tattoo, and a guitar pick. Be careful when buying this used and make sure all this stuff is present, particularly the ever-popular pick. If it’s not, ask the clerk for a discount.
I put in just shy of 12 years at the record store. That’s a lot of time to work retail. If you’ve worked retail, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, it has its ups and downs. The ups include discounts. The downs entail being abused by the general public on a daily basis.
I have a nice plaque around here somewhere, commemorating 7 years at the store. It was a pretty cool gift. It was a total surprise, how it happened. My boss phoned me out of the blue one day.
“Mike,” he said. “I need a list of the top 5 albums of all time. It’s for an article we’re doing.”
“Cool!” I responded eagerly. “But what are the parameters? Is it like rock, or all genres? Because that’s just a wide-open question.”
“Just what you think are the top albums of all time, that’s all I really need.”
Cool! I started work on it. I wanted to be objective, fair. If I were making a personalized list of a top 5, it would be easy, I know there would be some Kiss and Sabbath in there. I wanted to discount my own personal biases and try to be as open as possible for this particular list.
First of all, I chose The Wall. I admit that I chose this over Dark Side due to personal preference, also I think a double album like The Wall deserves many accolades. I obviously had to give respect to two of the greatest bands of all time, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles. I chose Zeppelin IV and Abbey Road. I really couldn’t choose a Zeppelin, so I went with IV as kind of a default answer. Abbey Road is arguably the most genius the Beatles ever were, so I could easily choose that over Sgt. Pepper’s.
OK, three down! Even though all three artists I chose were different from each other, they were all rock, so I needed to go outside that box. To represent country, I decided on Folson Prison by Johnny Cash. Were this a more personalized list, I would choose San Quentin, but I went with Folsom as it seems to be the best known.
I didn’t know what to pick last, so I went with a cop-out answer. Back In Black. What a weak, spineless choice! What am I a college student? Anyway, again I decided to be open and think about how many copies it sold, not about the many superior AC/DC albums.
I submitted my list. A month or two later, I was presented with this plaque! And these five albums were on the plaque! My boss had collected lists from a few of us who had been there a while, and given us custom made plaques, with the CDs and everything. It was really cool and I treasured mine for years.
I only wish he had worded his question differently! If I had known in advance what he was really asking (thus spoiling the surprise) I would have chosen these five:
5. Iron Maiden – Piece of Mind
4. Kiss – Alive
3. Kiss – Hotter Than Hell
2. Deep Purple – Fireball
1. Black Sabbath – Born Again
The original plaque is packed up in a box, as Mrs. LeBrain and I are planning a move to a bigger place. Here’s the five albums that made it onto the plaque though, at least all albums I proudly own. And because I don’t do anything small, I own them all in some kind of crazy deluxe box set. Enjoy.
Here is a book that I heartily endorse — for beginners. I bought my best bud Peter a copy of this for his birthday a couple years ago. For a guy like Peter, a general survey book like this is perfect. It’s boiled down to the essentials, by a guy that many trust: Eddie Trunk.
I normally don’t go for this kind of book, because what can Eddie Trunk tell me about Judas Priest in three pages that Martin Popoff didn’t in his excellent book, Heavy Metal Painkillers? So this book is for the people that just want the facts, ma’am. Anybody who’s listened to Eddie Trunk’s show on Sirius XM knows that this guy is the real deal — he knows his stuff, he knows the bands personally, and he doesn’t pander. He has a genuine love for the music, all of it. His personal touch helps make his radio show that much more enjoyable. Same with this book.
After Rob Halford’s forward, Eddie presents his essential hard rock and heavy metal bands, in alphabetical order. AC/DC, Aerosmith, and all the way down the line. You may take exception to some of the bands that he skips over (I read on a message board that Quiet Riot were ticked that they’re not in here) but I think by and large he hit the nail on the head. The bands that he does include…well, it’s hard to argue against them, and you only get so much page space, right? And this is a gorgeous book. Full colour photos, every page. Beautiful. Lots from Eddie’s personal collection, you’ll see a very young Eddie Trunk meeting the bands as a kid!
In addition, Eddie gives you a discography for each band (not perfect, there are a couple errors here, as in inevitable in a book like this). He also lists the members of the bands, and the most important ex-members and sidemen. So when you get to Queen (and yeah, you may argue that Queen is not a hard rock band) you’ll see the four original members, and Paul Rodgers listed beneath them. Finally, Eddie gives you his list of his ideal mix CD for each band. Go ahead and make your own, and see if you agree!
As a gift to Peter who likes the music but doesn’t know the details, he gleaned plenty from this book. Before reading it, he only knew of one Billy Squier song. Eddie Trunk got him up to speed. Thanks Eddie!
5/5 stars
For a guy like me, and quite possibly you as well:
2.5/5 stars
Added note: I know there is a Part II as well, but I have not checked it out.
Part 1 of a 2-part series on this album. Part 2 will come when I acquire the version with the bonus live disc!
AC/DC – Stiff Upper Lip (2000 Warner)
One doesn’t so much review an AC/DC album as just tell the listener what the songs are called. Stiff Upper Lip is a bit of an exception to that rule for me, as it seemed to be a really solid return to an early-1970’s form. Just listen to the irresistible “Hold Me Back”. Can’t you imagine Bon singing this one?
My first AC/DC album was Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap. I grew up listening to Bon, and Stiff Upper Lip is the most rock n’ roll sounding AC/DC album since his death. It seems they dropped some (but certainly not all) of the heavy riffing, leaving room for Malcolm and Angus to weave together some tasty guitar lines into song. Phil Rudd’s simple metronomic rhythms are perfectly suited to this approach.
When they do get their riff on, it’s on tracks like the relentless “Safe in New York City”. Yet I keep coming back to the laid back picking style of tunes like “Can’t Stand Still”. It doesn’t get much simpler nor satisfying.
The album was produced by Harry Vanda and George Young, much like the classic of old. They captured great performances, clear and uncluttered. Not every song here is a winner, most Johnson-era albums have filler. Stiff Upper Lip‘s filler ratio is remarkably low.
A European/Australian exclusive “tour edition” contained a bonus CD with an unreleased track (“Cyberspace”) and five live tracks. Most of this material is also available on the massive Backtracks box set. But we’ll talk about that bonus disc another time…
4/5 stars
When I need to hear some more recent AC/DC, 9 times out of 10, I reach for Stiff Upper Lip.
November/December 1995 was freakin’ busy. We sold a lot of discs that Christmas. What we didn’t do was listen to a lot of discs! No; our boss really, really liked Don Henley and TLC. He played them ad-nauseum. Like on repeat three times in a row. I’m not kidding about that. I distinctly remember the repeat. Here are the Top Three Discs I Had to Listen to Until My Ears Bled, December 1995.
3. Boney M – Christmas Album
2. Don Henley – Actual Miles
1. TLC – CrazySexyCool
Trevor on the other hand was introducing me to Oasis and managed to get a few cool discs into rotation:
3. The Beatles – Anthology Vol. 1 (usually just disc 2)
2. Foo Fighters – Foo Fighters
1. Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
We were also working with this new guy, Donnie, and we let him pick Dance Mix ’95 a few times. Unfortunately, the Big Shiny Tunes series hadn’t begun yet.
I didn’t get to pick as many discs as the others — the boss didn’t like my picks. When I did, I chose the new Def Leppard – Vault (Greatest Hits 1980-1995).
Looking back, there were also a few albums that I found utterly disappointing that season. They included:
3. AC/DC – Ballbreaker
2. Lenny Kravitz – Circus
1. Savatage – Dead Winter Dead
All three were albums that I was solidly looking forward to, but largely disappointed me. I never did buy Circus. I own the other two, but only because I’m a completest (and I got AC/DC for $3).
Finally there were three albums that really got me through that season. I had just been dumped by my first serious girlfriend and I was really angry about it. Away from work (my boss didn’t want these ones played in the store) these three albums totally spoke to me that Christmas:
3. Alice in Chains – Alice in Chains
2. Ozzy Osbourne – Ozzmosis
1. Iron Maiden – The X Factor
Let me tell you something people: I still fuckin’ hate TLC. I’ll never go chasin’ waterfalls, ever again.
Around this time, AC/DC just released the luxurious 
My first AC/DC album was Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap. I grew up listening to Bon, and Stiff Upper Lip is the most rock n’ roll sounding AC/DC album since his death. It seems they dropped some (but certainly not all) of the heavy riffing, leaving room for Malcolm and Angus to weave together some tasty guitar lines into song. Phil Rudd’s simple metronomic rhythms are perfectly suited to this approach.
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